Boy George previously turned down I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! because he didn't want to appear on TV looking like "a sweaty pig" and was too vain for the ITV show.
The singer, real name George O'Dowd, was lured onto the new series thanks to a big money deal with various reports saying his deal is worth up to £800,000.
In his autobiography, Straight, published in 2005, he revealed that he was asked to take part previously but dismissed those who did so as “smacking of desperation”.
The singer, reportedly worth £44million, wrote: “I was offered the most money anybody has ever been promised to appear on I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!
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“My agent Tony Denton urged me to take the meeting. I said, ‘How would you fancy appearing on television in the jungle looking like a sweaty pig jumping into vats of creepy-crawlies?’.
“He said, ‘I wouldn’t do it’. To which I replied, ‘There you go’.
"Like me, Tony knows that heat is the enemy of drag."
He added: “Whenever I see anybody on those type of programmes it smacks of desperation. I’m far too vain.”
Fast forward two decades and Boy George is now in the jungle and hoping to win.
Speaking last week he was asked about becoming king of the jungle and replied: "Queen darling! It is about bloody time isn't it, we are so fashionable now, the gays.
"Listen, I don't think you should go on a show like this if you don't want to do your best.
“I mean, it's the same as walking on stage. I don't ever walk on stage and think I will give a half level performance, you know.
“And I feel like I've been paid well for it so I'm going to be a Boy Georgey as I can.
He added: “Will I sing? Of course, I will get involved in everything."
The singer also spoke about how show hosts Ant and Dec personally played a crucial part in persuading him to sign up for the series.
The pair planted the idea in his head when they worked together but then also had further chats to lure him in.
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